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most eminent of the Scottish reformers was John Knox, a man of considerable abilities, of no less courage and resolution, a disciple of Calvin, and a warm admirer of the constitution and discipline which he had established at Geneva. Almost from the æra of the Reformation in Scotland till that of the Revolution, there was a perpetual struggle between the court and the people, for the establishment of an episcopal or presbyterian form of church government. The former model of ecclesiastical policy was patronised by the House of Stewart, on account of the support which it gave to the prerogatives of the crown; the latter was favoured by the majority of the people. The Church of Scotland was at first congregational; it afterwards assumed an episcopal appearance; and in 1690, Presbyterianism was finally established.

Scotland and England having been separate kingdoms at the time of the Reformation, a difference of circumstances in the two countries led to different sentiments on the subject of religion, and at last to different religious establishments. And when they were incorporated into one kingdom by the treaty of union, the same regard to the inclinations of the people of Scotland, to which Presbyterianism owed its first establishment in that country, produced a declaration to which both kingdoms gave their assent. "that Episcopacy shall continue in England, and that the Presbyterian church government shall be the only government of the church of Scotland."